Metals and oxygen: planetary and human homeostasis
.png)
Discussion meeting organised by Professor Karen Johnson, Professor Caroline Peacock, Dr Stephen Chivasa, Dr Karrera Djoko and Dr Eva Tretter.
MOPHH brings together geoscientists, bioscientists and health scientists to explore the role of metals and oxygen in governing the molecular processes that control homeostasis in plant, animal and planetary geochemical cycles. This transdisciplinary meeting will draw parallels between how metals and oxygen control redox from human to planetary scale, shaping the circadian rhythms that connect humans to the Earth System.
Programme
The programme, including speaker biographies and abstracts, is available below but please note the programme may be subject to change.
Poster session
There will be a poster session on Monday 15 June 2026. If you would like to present a poster, please submit your proposed title, abstract (up to 200 words), author list, and the name of the proposed presenter and institution to the Scientific Programmes team. Acceptances may be made on a rolling basis so we recommend submitting as soon as possible in case the session becomes full. Submissions made within one month of the meeting may not be included in the programme booklet.
Attending the event
This event is intended for researchers in relevant fields.
- Free to attend
- Both virtual and in-person attendance is available. Advance registration is essential
- Lunch is available on both days of the meeting for an optional £25 per day. There are plenty of places to eat nearby if you would prefer to purchase food offsite. Participants are welcome to bring their own lunch to the meeting
Enquiries: Scientific Programmes team.
Image credit: ©️Tanya Row
Organisers
Schedule
Chair
Professor Karen Johnson
University of Durham, UK
Professor Karen Johnson
University of Durham, UK
Karen is a Professor in Environmental Engineering whose expertise is in rebuilding soils to reverse soil degradation. She leads Durham University's SMART soils lab which is guided by the fact that it is the soil microbiome that builds soil structure and ultimately provides soil ecosystem services. These are things like flood and drought resilience, nutrient neutrality and net zero and the team are increasingly interested in soil's ability to help with net biodiversity gain. Her scientific expertise is in carbon and pollutant stabilisation on mineral surfaces and she publishes in high impact journals like Nature and Hazardous Materials on these topics. She was recently awarded the Royal Society Rosalind Franklin Prize in 2023 for her science as well as for her efforts to encourage more women into science through her work in soil literacy. She has always worked across disciplines in order to champion her rebuilding soils agenda as raising soil up the political agenda is a societal issue as much as a technical one. She believes strongly that it is our attitudes, behaviours and comprehension of soil that is arguably the bigger barrier to rebuilding our soils than the actual soil science itself.
| 09:00-09:05 |
Welcome by the Royal Society and organiser
Professor Karen JohnsonUniversity of Durham, UK
Professor Karen JohnsonUniversity of Durham, UK Karen is a Professor in Environmental Engineering whose expertise is in rebuilding soils to reverse soil degradation. She leads Durham University's SMART soils lab which is guided by the fact that it is the soil microbiome that builds soil structure and ultimately provides soil ecosystem services. These are things like flood and drought resilience, nutrient neutrality and net zero and the team are increasingly interested in soil's ability to help with net biodiversity gain. Her scientific expertise is in carbon and pollutant stabilisation on mineral surfaces and she publishes in high impact journals like Nature and Hazardous Materials on these topics. She was recently awarded the Royal Society Rosalind Franklin Prize in 2023 for her science as well as for her efforts to encourage more women into science through her work in soil literacy. She has always worked across disciplines in order to champion her rebuilding soils agenda as raising soil up the political agenda is a societal issue as much as a technical one. She believes strongly that it is our attitudes, behaviours and comprehension of soil that is arguably the bigger barrier to rebuilding our soils than the actual soil science itself. |
|---|---|
| 09:05-09:30 |
Microbiomes for environmental, public health and clinical care
Microbial systems underpin both human health and planetary resilience. Integrating microbiome science into precision medicine has transformed our understanding of disease etiology, nutrition, and treatment response, revealing that host–microbe interactions regulate immune, metabolic, and neurological pathways. At the same time, microbial processes in soils, freshwater, and marine ecosystems govern carbon cycling, nutrient turnover, and climate feedbacks that ultimately sustain human wellbeing. These dimensions are inherently connected: a stable planetary microbiome supports the health of populations, while clinical microbiome therapeutics depend on the conservation of microbial diversity and function at global scales. Advances in quantitative multi-omics, automated sampling, and artificial intelligence are enabling predictive models that link microbial composition and activity to physiological and environmental outcomes. Leveraging these tools across biological and ecological domains allows us to align precision health with planetary health objectives, thereby transforming microbes from diagnostic biomarkers and therapeutic agents into foundational tools for climate mitigation, food security, and sustainable resource management. Framing microbial research within the UN Sustainable Development Goals provides a coherent strategy for translating microbial technologies from innovation to global application. A unified approach that integrates clinical and environmental microbiomes will ensure that microbial diversity, our most ancient and adaptable biotechnological resource, continues to safeguard both personal and planetary health in the Anthropocene. 
Professor Jack GilbertScripps Institute of Oceanography, USA
Professor Jack GilbertScripps Institute of Oceanography, USA Professor Jack A Gilbert earned his PhD from Unilever and Nottingham University in 2002 and completed postdoctoral training at Queens University, Canada. He was a senior scientist at Plymouth Marine Laboratory and later led Microbial Ecology at Argonne National Laboratory and the Microbiome Center at University of Chicago. In 2019, he joined UC San Diego as a Professor in Pediatrics and at Scripps Institution of Oceanography, where he directs the Microbiome and Metagenomics Center. Professor Gilbert co-founded the Earth Microbiome and American Gut Projects and has authored over 450 publications. He is founding Editor-in-Chief of mSystems and co-authored Dirt is Good. He also founded BiomeSense Inc and leads the $200M NIH Nutrition for Precision Medicine program. He is the current President of Applied Microbiology International the oldest society for applied microbiology in the world. |
| 09:30-09:45 |
Discussion
|
| 09:45-10:15 |
Plants and microbial biofilms: a supraorganism with emergent properties for stress survival
Plants forge symbiotic relationships with soil microbes to expand the limits of their genomes. This way, they benefit from biochemical processes not supported by their enzyme systems and they use microbial capabilities to sense and swiftly respond to changes in the environment. This creates a “supraorganism” that requires an ecosystem-wide approach to fully understand. By exclusively focusing on plant genetics to study plant stress-adaptive responses, Plant Scientists have often missed critical information required to understand how nature works. We are interested in understanding how plants adapt to crop yield-limiting stresses. Using comparative analyses of plants with microbial biofilms growing in healthy soils and severely degraded soils, we are observing the surprising extent to which soil microbes govern plant processes. We have generated a CryoBank of over 200 stress-resistant soil microbes, which we are using to understand how microbial biofilms signal to plant roots to boost stress tolerance. We have begun to identify the key molecular targets regulated by microbial signals - these include extracellular peptide hormones. Homeostasis of cellular metal ions is a key target for regulating the reduction reactions of molecular oxygen and phytotoxicity. The presentation will provide an overview of how microbial biofilms and plants are intertwined at biochemical and molecular levels to survive extreme stresses, such as drought. Translational research from this fundamental knowledge is currently being developed into agritech for more sustainable agriculture. 
Dr Stephen ChivasaDurham University, UK
Dr Stephen ChivasaDurham University, UK Steve Chivasa is an Associate Professor in Biosciences and a research leader at Durham University. He serves as the Co-Director of the Durham Centre for Crop Improvement Technologies (DCCIT) and is the Biosciences Lead for the strategically important, interdisciplinary SMART Soils Lab. After earning his BSc and MSc from the University of Zimbabwe, he completed a PhD at the University of Cambridge. His research focuses on understanding stress-adaptive responses in plants and microbes. Specifically, his group investigates how cell-cell communication and secreted signals govern collective responses in microbial biofilms and synchronize adaptive responses across plant cells in tissues. This foundational work is actively being translated for exploitation with industrial partners in the agritech and biotech sectors. Recent efforts have explored the role of metal biology in stress adaptation across prokaryotic and eukaryotic systems. |
| 10:15-10:30 |
Discussion
|
| 10:30-11:00 |
Break
|
| 11:00-11:30 |
Circadian regulation in plants and bacteria
Circadian clocks provide a temporal program that coordinates biological processes with cycles of day and night in the environment. They are pervasive across life, and are usually regulated by cellular oscillators. They contribute to fitness, and disruption of circadian clocks frequently has deleterious impacts upon organisms, such as the increased prevalence of a variety of diseases in humans, and reduced growth and reproduction in plants. Circadian programs are closely integrated with the interactions between organisms and their fluctuating abiotic and biotic environments, but there are many open questions about how circadian regulation shapes ecological interactions. I will focus on new findings concerning circadian programs in plants and bacteria, and how they relate to ecological processes. 
Professor Antony DoddJohn Innes Centre, UK
Professor Antony DoddJohn Innes Centre, UK Antony Dodd is based at the John Innes Centre in Norwich, which is a centre for excellence in plant and microbial sciences. His group investigates fundamental and more translational aspects of circadian regulation, generally using plants and bacteria as experimental models. Antony’s PhD was at Newcastle University, followed by several years as a post-doc in Cambridge. He was awarded a Royal Society University Research Fellowship that he took initially to the University of York, and then the University of Bristol where he held his first faculty position. He moved to the John Innes Centre in 2019, where he is currently Head of Department of Cell and Developmental Biology. |
| 11:30-11:45 |
Discussion
|
| 11:45-12:15 |
The bacterial chemistry of metals
Bacteria need metals to do chemistry. In fact, nearly one in three proteins is a metalloprotein. These proteins drive essential cellular processes: building DNA and proteins, running metabolism, generating energy, and surviving stress. But the very same chemistry that makes metals biologically useful also makes them potentially toxic. It can damage biomolecules, derail metabolism, and trigger stress. Therefore, bacteria must maintain cellular metal availability to be just right – never too little and never too much. The chemical challenge of metals does not end there. Metalloproteins only function if they bind the right metal. But, left to follow the laws of chemistry, all metalloproteins will prefer to bind the wrong one. Bacteria must also overcome this chemical preference and ensure that hundreds of metalloproteins inside the shared cellular space simultaneously bind their correct metal and avoid all the wrong ones. This talk will outline how bacterial biology solves the chemical problem of metal control. Understanding these mechanisms matters far beyond the bacterial cell. Metal limitation and pollution are known to affect the health of individual bacteria and bacterial communities, including those that shape the health of the entire planet, from humans and insects to soils and oceans. Thus, by uncovering how bacteria manage metals, we will open doors to innovations across health, biotechnology, and sustainability. 
Dr Karrera DjokoUniversity of Durham, UK
Dr Karrera DjokoUniversity of Durham, UK I trained as a chemist, receiving a BS in Chemistry from PennState University (USA) in 2004. I fell in love with metalloproteins while doing my PhD in Bioinorganic Chemistry at the University of Melbourne (Australia). After graduating in 2009, I joined the University of Queensland (Australia) as a postdoc and learned about bacteria and infection. I moved to Durham University (UK) in 2017 to establish my independent research programme and study how bacteria control metal chemistry and how the chemistry of metals influence bacterial physiology, bacteria-bacteria interactions, and bacteria-host interactions. |
| 13:30-14:00 |
The Dark Oxygen Research Initiative (DORI) project - investigating dark oxygen production in the deep sea
Deep-sea benthic organisms consume oxygen as part of a global balance between photosynthesis and respiration, but direct observations of oxygen consumption rates from the abyssal seafloor are scarce relative to its areal extent and the diversity of seafloor habitats. In 2024, Sweetman et al. published research from in-situ benthic incubations from previously unexplored manganese nodule provinces in the equatorial Pacific Ocean, where they found more oxygen was being produced at the abyssal seafloor than was being consumed. In >40 incubations of the seafloor, they found oxygen levels increased in 93% of their enclosed chamber experiments, rising to more than 3-times background levels over 48 hours. DOP occurred exclusively in the presence of manganese oxides. It is presently unclear what the mechanism behind DOP is, but the close link to polymetallic oxides and increase in interest in deep-sea mining necessitates further investigations. We are now embarking on a multi-year research programme to fully characterize DOP in different deep-sea habitats and developing the Dark Oxygen Research Initiative - the DORI project. This talk will show case the evidence for DOP as well as provide details on the DORI project, which we hope to expand to additional interested partners as the project moves through its various stages. 
Professor Andrew SweetmanScottish Association for Marine Science, UK
Professor Andrew SweetmanScottish Association for Marine Science, UK Professor Andrew K Sweetman is the leader of the Seafloor Ecology and Biogeochemistry research group and chair of Benthic Ecology and Biogeochemistry at the Scottish Association for Marine Science (SAMS), UK. He holds a PhD in deep-sea ecology from the Max Planck Institute for Marine Microbiology and has held positions at various world-leading research institutions including Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution, Florida State University, and the University of Hawaii at Manoa. Andrew studies seafloor biodiversity and ecology and has a strong focus on the impact of anthropogenic stressors on shallow and deep-sea benthic ecosystems. Over the last 17 years, he has led 32 research projects on diverse topics including assessing the effects of i) invasive species on seafloor biogeochemistry and ecosystem functioning, ii) aquaculture on deep fjord ecosystems, iii) mine-tailings deposition, massive sulphide and polymetallic nodule mining on deep-sea ecosystems, and iv) studied the effects of climate change on shallow and deep-ocean systems. |
|---|---|
| 14:00-14:15 |
Discussion
|
| 14:15-14:45 |
Talk title TBC
Professor Caroline PeacockUniversity of Leeds, UK
Professor Caroline PeacockUniversity of Leeds, UK Caroline Peacock is Professor of Biogeochemistry in the School of Earth and Environment at University of Leeds, UK. Her research explores how mineralogical processes control elemental cycling and help shape the past, present and future Earth system. Caroline obtained her PhD. in geochemistry at University of Bristol, before joining University of Southampton and then University of Leeds. She received the European Association of Geochemistry Houtermans award for early career scientists in 2015 for exceptional contributions to geochemistry, a Royal Society Wolfson Research Merit Award in 2018, a Mineralogical Society of America Distinguished Lecturer Award in 2018-19 and a Mineralogical Society of Great Britain and Ireland Distinguished Lecturer Award in 2019-21. Caroline is currently Vice President of the European Association of Geochemistry. |
| 14:45-15:00 |
Discussion
|
| 15:00-15:30 |
Break
|
| 15:30-16:00 |
Nutritional biochemistry and biogeochemistry in dialogue: Metal and oxygen homeostasis across scales
Micronutrient metals such as iron, zinc, manganese, and copper serve as indispensable cofactors in redox enzymatic pathways, mitochondrial function, and circadian regulation, directly influencing human metabolic health. Diets often lack micronutrients, notably trace metals, particularly in populations with excessive energy intake. Additionally, micronutrient deficiencies can coexist, increasing the metabolic burden associated with nutritional gaps. Mechanistic studies and human nutritional research reveal complex interactions between metal availability and redox biology that underpin metabolic resilience or vulnerability to disorders such as obesity. Bioavailability is modulated by intermetal competition for transporters and binding proteins, as well as by circadian fluctuations that influence intestinal absorption and cellular uptake, and the food matrix. The gut microbiome emerges as a critical mediator of micronutrient metabolism and redox signalling, with microbial communities influenced by metallobiology and rhythmic host factors, further modulating systemic health outcomes. Supplementation can have adverse effects, with iron supplementation known to disrupt gut microbial balance and induce oxidative damage. Concurrently, global shifts toward sustainable, net-zero carbon diets alter the (bio)availability of metal micronutrients, posing challenges and opportunities for maintaining metabolic and cellular redox homeostasis in diverse populations. To mitigate the risk of a planetary forward plant-based diet jeopardising key metal micronutrient intake, strategies spanning careful supplementation or alternative food production strategies are required. This talk highlights links between dietary metal intake, redox pathways, oxidative stress, and metabolism, grounded in human studies. The aim is to explore the link between metal-oxygen biochemistry to challenges in health equity, diet transitions, and climate-resilient sustainable development. 
Professor Emilie CombetUniversity of Glasgow, UK
Professor Emilie CombetUniversity of Glasgow, UK Emilie Combet is a Professor of Nutrition at the University of Glasgow in the School of Medicine. Her expertise lies in nutrition and the lifecycle, with a focus on health trajectories, food systems and sustainability/equity. Her research adopts a multidisciplinary perspective, combining lab-based techniques, cross-sectional and interventional methodologies to study how food/diets (including whole foods, specific nutrients, and the way we eat) impact health throughout life, from the time peri-conception to old age. She has a particular interest in the “farm to fork to society” nexus and its implications for all stakeholders from a community, industry and clinical settings. Emilie has extensive experience managing interdisciplinary research projects and developing strategic partnerships. Since 2023, she has held the role of Director of the Scottish Alliance for Food, one of four Alliances for Research Challenges funded by the Scottish Funding Council. Through SCAF, with colleagues across sectors and disciplines, she is exploring how transdisciplinary research can address the complex challenges faced by our food system through the lenses of health, sustainability and equity. |
| 16:00-16:15 |
Discussion
|
| 16:15-16:45 |
Talk title TBC
Dr Marcy KingsburyUniversity of Harvard
Dr Marcy KingsburyUniversity of Harvard Dr Marcy Kingsbury received her BA in neuroscience from Hamilton College and her PhD in developmental neurobiology from Cornell University. She conducted postdoctoral work at the University of California, San Diego and the Institute for Childhood and Neglected Diseases at the Scripps Research Institute in La Jolla, CA. Dr Kingsbury is currently an Assistant Professor of Pediatrics at Harvard Medical School and an Assistant Investigator for the Lurie Center for Autism and the Mucosal Immunology Biology Research Center at Mass General Brigham where she studies microbiome-gut-brain signaling in the context of neurodevelopmental disorders. One of her current research avenues examines how the hormone oxytocin resolves cellular stress, re-establishes homeostasis and builds cellular resilience through hermetic processes following physiological stressors. She is particularly interested in how oxytocin and related peptides may have evolved to manage over-reactivity to the side-effects of oxygen with the advent of aerobic respiration at the mitochondrial membrane. |
| 16:45-17:00 |
Discussion
|
| 09:00-09:30 |
Metals, oxygen, and the Paleoproterozoic explosion of Earth’s mineral diversity
The concept of “Mineral evolution,” introduced in 2008, considers the varied physical, chemical, and biological processes by which minerals form, as well as how those processes have varied through deep time [1,2]. Mineral evolution’s central conclusion is that the diversity and distribution of minerals on Earth have changed remarkably over 4.5 billion years of planetary history. An important finding is that most of the minerals on Earth today are the consequence, albeit indirectly, of a unique combinatorial synergy with biology. This understanding deepens our appreciation of the unique “mineral ecology” of Earth. This presentation will review factors that link Earth’s mineralogical diversity, especially the varied minerals that incorporate first row transition elements such as iron, nickel, and copper, with the rise of oxygenic photosynthesis in the Paleoproterozoic Era at ~2.5 Ga. 1. Hazen et al. (2008) Mineral evolution. Am. Min. 93, 1693-1720 
Professor Bob HazenCarnegie Institute, US
Professor Bob HazenCarnegie Institute, US Robert M Hazen is Staff Scientist at the Earth and Planets Laboratory of Carnegie Science in Washington, DC, and Robinson Professor Emeritus at George Mason University in Fairfax, Virginia. He received degrees in geology from MIT and Harvard. Author of more than 550 articles and books on science, history, and music, Hazen current work focuses on mineral evolution, mineral informatics, and the coevolution of the geosphere and biosphere. A Foreign Member of the Russian Academy and a Fellow of AGU, AAAS, GSA, ISSOL, and other societies, Hazen has been recipient of numerous awards, including the 2025 AGI Legendary Geoscientist Medal, the 2025 Hallimond Lectureship, the 2021 IMA Medal, the 2016 Roebling Medal, and the 2012 Virginia Outstanding Faculty Award. |
|---|---|
| 09:30-09:45 |
Discussion
|
| 09:45-10:15 |
Talk title TBC
Dr Angela SherryUniversity of Northumbria, UK
Dr Angela SherryUniversity of Northumbria, UK Dr Angela Sherry is an Associate Professor in Microbial Environments, School of Geography & Natural Sciences, Northumbria University. Her research in Environmental Molecular Microbiology investigates the function and community composition of microbes in the natural and built environment. She has a diverse research portfolio focused on the role of microbes in the biodegradation of oil, methane oxidation, carbonate precipitation in soils (engineered and natural), and interactions with pesticides in agricultural soils. Her research aims to mechanistically understand the role of microbes in geochemical processes and the impacts that environmental change or engineering interventions have had or will have. Current research aims to understand the microbiome of the built environment and how potentially modifying the urban microbiome may benefit human health and wellbeing. She leads collaborative ventures with both industry and academia within interdisciplinary teams, which has led to successful publications in, for example, Scientific Reports, Frontiers in Microbiology and Nature. |
| 10:15-10:30 |
Discussion
|
| 10:30-11:00 |
Break
|
| 11:00-11:30 |
From planetary redox to cellular balance – using geochemistry to trace the evolution (and devolution) of multicellularity
Life on Earth evolved within a dynamic redox landscape shaped by metals. While homeostasis tightly controls the internal chemical environment, the use and recycling of metals in cells and tissues remain highly dynamic. This dynamic use of metals in tissues offer both a model system in which geochemical methods can be calibrated, and means for which we can explore expanded biomarkers. An unmet need in the cancer field is the ability to trace the rise of multicellularity within the human body. To address this, my research adapts geochemical tools traditionally used to reconstruct ancient Earth environments to the human body. We adapt these methods to track how tumours alter the internal metallome of tissues. High-resolution imaging mass spectrometry (ToF-SIMS, FT-ICR) shows how altered cellular metabolism and metal use propagate from tumour tissue into systemic circulation. Together, these approaches demonstrate how principles of planetary geochemistry can illuminate disease processes, revealing cancer as a chemical experiment in redox imbalance. It can also lead to new clinical applications to understand the co-evolution of dynamic redox landscapes and adaptations. 
Dr Emma HammarlundLund University, Sweden
Dr Emma HammarlundLund University, Sweden Emma Hammarlund explores the appearance of large life on Earth through experimental biology (MSc), geochemistry (PhD) and tumour biology. After an early career as a science writer, she earned a doctorate at Stockholm University and a Postdoctoral Fellowship at the University of Southern Denmark, focusing on ocean chemistry during the Cambrian explosion and early Paleozoic. Starting a lab at the Medical Faculty at Lund University, she now utilises tumours to study the transition from uni- to multicellularity in real time. Her current work investigates the evolutionary importance hypoxia and of biological innovations that sense and respond to fluctuations in environmental oxygen concentrations. |
| 11:30-11:45 |
Discussion
|
| 11:45-12:15 |
The connate role of manganese in the evolution of photosynthesis and aerobic biology
Across our planet's four-and-a-half billion-year history, the rise of dioxygen—an interval sometimes called the Great Oxygenation Event (GOE)—is arguably its most significant environmental change. This revolution occurred at approximately the mid-way point in Earth history, and it was ultimately driven by a biological innovation: the evolution of oxygenic photosynthesis. The evolution of oxygenic photosynthesis conferred the ability to use visible sunlight to oxidize water as a photosynthetic substrate. Primary productivity—no longer limited by a source of electrons—greatly expanded across Earth surface environments. In turn, dioxygen accumulated and became widely available for use in anabolic and catabolic metabolisms, forming a rich cascade of evolutionary potential and consequence. Manganese chemistry was central to the environmental context and evolutionary innovations that enabled the origin of oxygenic photosynthesis and the ensuing rise of dioxygen. It was also manganese chemistry that provided an early, fortuitous antioxidant systems that were instrumental in how life came to cope with oxidative stress and ultimately thrive in an aerobic world. In this presentation I will bring to bear insights from chemistry, biology, and geology, to examine the special role that manganese played in the development and acceleration of photosynthesis and early aerobic cells. 
Professor Woodward FischerCalifornia Institute of Technology, US
Professor Woodward FischerCalifornia Institute of Technology, US Woodward Fischer is Jean-Lou Chameau Professor of Geobiology at Caltech. Dr Fischer is often called by his nickname, Woody. He holds a BA and DLitt from Colorado College and a PhD from Harvard University. His research generally falls in the discipline of geobiology — combining techniques from field geology, analytical chemistry, and biology — to understand and explore the relationships between life and Earth surface environments through diverse and fundamental transitions in Earth history. |
| 12:15-12:30 |
Discussion
|
| 13:30-14:00 |
Understanding cellular pathways of oxygen: The biology behind human health
In earth history living organisms always adapted their metabolism to the current ambient atmosphere. Early primitive organisms learned how to convert light energy into chemical energy by photosynthesis, initially using hydrogen, hydrogen sulfide and later also water, thereby producing oxygen (O2), which escaped into the atmosphere. A milestone was the use of this potentially toxic O2 for respiration and finally the establishment of mitochondria in higher organisms. Dependent on the production and use of atmospheric O2 its abundance fluctuated in earth history. The physiology of animals and humans of our time is adjusted to 21% O2 in the inspired air representing a homeostatic condition in the healthy body. Metabolic reactions create many different types of reactive oxygen species, which are tightly surveilled in order not to be harmful, but to take part in diverse signaling reactions. Hypoxic conditions can be compensated to some extent by adapting the cellular response via the master transcription factor HIF-1 and are also a frequent cofactor in tumours. Hyperoxia can be an issue in patients treated with supplemental oxygen to ensure sufficient oxygenation, when the function of lungs is compromised. Alternating oxygen conditions (intermittent hypoxia/hyperoxia) again elicit distinct molecular responses. Understanding these signalling pathways represents a huge challenge in precision medicine, which is the promising future of therapeutical interventions. 
Dr Eva TretterVienna Medical University, Austria
Dr Eva TretterVienna Medical University, Austria Dr Tretter is a cell biologist with a special interest in translational research. She studied Food Science and Biotechnology at BOKU University in Vienna, Austria. As postdoc she specialized in molecular neuroscience as a Research Fellow at MRC Laboratory for Molecular Cell Biology/University College London and Senior Research Investigator at School of Medicine/University of Pennsylvania from 2000 to 2008. After her return to Vienna she joined the Center for Brain Research and in 2012 the Department of Anesthesia and General Intensive Care, both at Medical University Vienna. In close cooperation with physician-scientists she established an Experimental Anesthesiology Laboratory with a strong focus on translational research. Her main interests are research questions from clinical anesthesiology, such as organ protection, oxygen homeostasis, extracellular vesicles as biomarkers and in tissue regeneration and side-effects of anesthetics. Mentoring of young physician-scientists is her particular concern as a university teacher. |
|---|---|
| 14:00-14:15 |
Discussion
|
| 14:15-14:45 |
Disrupted redox systems and metabolic interactions of neurodegenerative diseases
Our previous publication, “Mitochondria Need Their Sleep…”. identified that there is a paucity of studies on the reciprocal interactions between oxidative stress, redox modifications, metabolism, thermoregulation, and other major oscillatory physiological processes. This presentation will address this limitation in terms of the pathogenesis of neurodegenerative diseases (NDs) in humans, by theorizing on the detrimental effects of the disruptive interactions of the redoxome, bioenergetics and the metabolism. The focus will primarily be on the evidence provided by published reports and reviews indicating how Alzheimer disease, amyotrophic lateral sclerosis, Parkinson disease, Huntington disease and other NDs display disrupted redox systems and metabolic interactions. Post-translational modifications of proteins by reversible cysteine oxiforms, involving states like S-glutathionylation and S-nitrosylation are shown to play a major role in regulating mitochondrial reactive oxygen species production, protein activity, respiration, and metabolomics. Antioxidants and oxidants are of especial importance in maintaining redox homeostasis in the intensely oxidative environment of the high oxygen-consuming brain, with multifactorial dysfunctional activity in the brain breaching tipping points in NDs. This approach is extended and applied to provide an explanation for the way pro-oxidant, ionizing radiation promotes NDs and cognitive impairment, as currently the pathogenesis is unclear. This presents the possibility that lifestyle and environmental measures can slow the formation of irreversible oxidative processes, slow biological aging, reduce oxidative distress and improve the cerebral metabolism, hence helping mitigate NDs even in the presence of genetic susceptibility. Richard B. Richardson1,2, and Ryan J. Mailloux3 1Canadian Nuclear Laboratories (CNL), Radiobiology and Health, Chalk River Laboratories, Chalk River, Ontario K0J 1J0, Canada. 2McGill University, School of Human Nutrition, MacDonald Campus, Ste-Anne-de Bellevue, Quebec H9X 3V9, Canada. 3McGill Medical Physics Unit, Cedars Cancer Center-Glen Site, Montreal, Quebec H4A 3J1, Canada. 
Professor Richard RichardsonMcGill University, US
Professor Richard RichardsonMcGill University, US Dr Richard Richardson is a Principal Research Scientist at Canadian Nuclear Laboratories (CNL) and an Adjunct Professor at McGill University. He specializes in identifying the underlying factors of spontaneous and radiation-induced diseases of aging, with a particular focus on mitochondrial function. He started his research career working on brain tumour therapy before investigating radon-induced leukaemia at Bristol University. Since joining CNL, he has published extensively on radiation effects. A significant contribution is his novel explanation of the 'oxygen effect' in radiotherapy, which is based on mitochondrial-generated reactive oxygen species. A multidisciplinary approach characterizes his current research, where he serves as principal investigator and a PhD supervisor on major projects. Recent publications aim to better understand the disease-causing effects of space radiation and how sleep restores mitochondrial health. Dr Richardson has authored over 95 peer-reviewed articles and continues to study the etiology underlying aging-related diseases. |
| 14:45-15:00 |
Discussion
|
| 15:00-15:30 |
Break
|
| 15:30-16:00 |
Does soil sleep? Potential circadian rhythms of the mineral carbon pump
by Lee Bryant, Joe Weaver, Caroline Peacock and Karen Johnson Dissolved oxygen and manganese data from benthic sediment pore water and the overlying water column are presented, showing diurnal/diel trends of both dissolved manganese and dissolved oxygen together for the first time. Since manganese is capable of both building up and breaking down organic matter via the “mineral carbon pump”, and this process may be related to the ratio of oxidants:reductants, critical research questions are raised: is the mineral carbon pump affected by these diel variations? We investigate whether dissolved manganese increases nightly as oxygen is depleted, in a circadian rhythm similar to that of many living organisms. For example, in human bodies, blood serum manganese is higher at night when oxygen is low and lower during the day when oxygen is high. Similar diel trends for several metals, including manganese, can be seen in stream water and are potentially explained by the fact that manganese oxide is oxidatively precipitated during the day when both UV and oxygen are higher, and reductively dissolved during the night when UV and oxygen are lower. However, deep soils and benthic sediments are often disconnected from open water and/or not exposed to UV; hence, diel trends in metal cycling cannot solely be driven by photosynthesis. In addition all manganese cycling in natural environments is mediated by bacteria. Recent research has shown that bacteria, such as B.subtilis, that are commonly present in the soil (and in our gut) have circadian rhythms, even in the dark. This paper explores whether circadian rhythms help regulate and modulate soil/sediment organic carbon cycling and interconnected soil/sediment ecosystem functioning and health.
Professor Karen JohnsonUniversity of Durham, UK
Professor Karen JohnsonUniversity of Durham, UK Karen is a Professor in Environmental Engineering whose expertise is in rebuilding soils to reverse soil degradation. She leads Durham University's SMART soils lab which is guided by the fact that it is the soil microbiome that builds soil structure and ultimately provides soil ecosystem services. These are things like flood and drought resilience, nutrient neutrality and net zero and the team are increasingly interested in soil's ability to help with net biodiversity gain. Her scientific expertise is in carbon and pollutant stabilisation on mineral surfaces and she publishes in high impact journals like Nature and Hazardous Materials on these topics. She was recently awarded the Royal Society Rosalind Franklin Prize in 2023 for her science as well as for her efforts to encourage more women into science through her work in soil literacy. She has always worked across disciplines in order to champion her rebuilding soils agenda as raising soil up the political agenda is a societal issue as much as a technical one. She believes strongly that it is our attitudes, behaviours and comprehension of soil that is arguably the bigger barrier to rebuilding our soils than the actual soil science itself. |
| 16:00-16:15 |
Discussion
|
| 16:15-17:00 |
Panel discussion
|